Corn-meal
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the mixture
Boil water in a pot.
Pour boiling water over cornmeal in a mixing bowl.
Stir well with a warm spoon until combined.
Let the mixture sit for a few minutes to thicken.
Add salt and mix thoroughly.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 40 to 60 minutes.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal
- Starch swells in hot water, giving the body and setting structure as it bakes.
The step that matters
Let the mixture sit to thicken. Cornmeal starch keeps absorbing water and swelling as the mixture rests, so it firms up before baking. Baking it before it has thickened leaves the dish loose and wet inside.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.